LiMandri Targets Crane Safety

NEW YORK CITY-Buildings commissioner Robert LiMandri on Tuesday outlined 41 recommendations to improve construction safety, and said the Department of Buildings will work to implement all of them in the coming months. Speaking at the BuildSafe New York conference, LiMandri said the recommendations grew out of the High-Risk Construction Oversight study conducted for the DOB after last year’s increase in site accidents.

The recommendations target a wide range of topics, ranging from crane design standards to engineering plans for excavation sites to inspection protocols and training. Some of them have already been implemented, according to DOB.

Twenty-two of the recommendations concern crane safety. These include devising a tracking system for critical crane parts, more frequent inspection of older equipment and modernizing the city’s hoist regulations. Crane safety has been a DOB focal point since the fatal tower crane collapses in March and May of last year.